A Place with No Name

Michael Jackson's "A Place with No Name" finally saw an official release in 2014, but its journey to the public was anything but straightforward. The song's roots go back to 1998, when producer Elliot Straite, known as Dr. Freeze, first worked with Jackson on the track. Jackson wrote the lyrics and composed the music, cleverly building the melody around America's 1972 hit "A Horse with No Name." A 24-second snippet leaked on TMZ just three weeks after Jackson's death in July 2009, and the band America responded by saying they were "honored" by his choice to interpolate their work. A full version leaked online in December 2013, months before the official release.

For the posthumous album Xscape, the Norwegian production duo Stargate took the original demo and gave it a modern sheen, keeping the essence intact while updating the sound. The song was serviced to American urban adult contemporary radio on August 12, 2014, as the second single from the album. The album itself debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and topped the UK Albums Chart. Critics praised the track's catchy hook and nostalgic vibe, though it didn't chart as a single on the Billboard Hot 100.

The music video, directed by Samuel Bayer, made history by premiering exclusively on Twitter on August 13, 2014, the first major music video to do so. It featured rare archival footage of Jackson, including clips from his "In the Closet" video, and told a story of a man led to a utopian place. The video has since racked up tens of millions of views on YouTube. [edit]